Q&A with Romeo Crennel - 10/8

Highlights

Q: Romeo, how do you get to a quarterback that nobody gets to?

CRENNEL: “Peyton is one of the best guys in the NFL and we know it’s a tough task. We hope that we can just disrupt him a little bit and know that it’s hard to get him on the ground but if we can disrupt him and screw up the timing a little then maybe we can help ourselves.”

Q: A lot of people say that you’re the reason that the defense might be able to stop Manning and the Colts offense. You’re getting a lot of the publicity?

CRENNEL: “I do not play one snap in the game. I have not played one snap in ages. So I can’t make any plays, I can just try to get our guys to play hard and they’ve been playing hard so far and hopefully we’ll keep playing hard and doing the things the right way and we’ll see how it turns out.”

Q: It’s a little flattering, isn’t it?

CRENNEL: “Nah.”

Q: You’ve had prepare to face Peyton Manning many times in your career and in some big games. He’s got different players around him but he’s been the constant. What is the key to preparing for him?

CRENNEL: “The thing I think you have to do is you have to do what you do and do it to the best of your ability. I’ve been on some teams that have had good ability and guys who played well and those games kind of went down to the wire, too. You just play your best and then sees how it comes out because if Peyton has the ball, generally he can move it down the field and put points on the board.”

Q: Do you view him as the best quarterback you’ve ever schemed for?

CRENNEL: “He’s pretty good; he has total command. The thing that’s impressive about Peyton is that he runs the offense, they will let him go in with four or five plays and he decides which play he wants to run. Now that takes a lot of studying and a lot of time on his part but he does it and he does a good job of it and getting them in the best play versus the coverage that he anticipates, versus the front he has to look at and see. And they do a good job of it.”

Q: A lot of people talk about how quiet that stadium gets when the Colts are on offense and Peyton is basically running the stadium at that point. Most stadiums get quiet, but is it even more unusual than at more places because it seems like the fans really respond?

CRENNEL: “I think their fans understand the offensive system and that Peyton is making checks at the line, changing plays and they’re trying to help him by being quiet just like when their defense is on the field, they’re trying to help their defense by making noise and it does get loud in that dome. They’ve shown some savvy there.”

Q: People always talk about what’s real and what’s not when he’s at the line doing the talking and the pointing. Have you guys ever been able to figure out exactly what’s true and what’s not when he stands up there and does his show?

CRENNEL: “No, he’s pretty good at it. He could probably be an actor if he needed to be and he is at times and that makes it difficult to try to determine what’s real and what’s not real. He’s pretty consistent about giving you hand signals and talking to the receiver at the end of the line and then handing the ball off and then talking to the receiver at the end of the line and then throwing him a touchdown pass. He’s really good. He’s got it down.”

Q: Have you spent any time with the young safeties giving them tips like not being overaggressive or anything like that?

CRENNEL: “Not really. I think that they have enough on their plate just trying to figure out what we’re doing. The thing is that they have to understand that they’re dealing with an experienced guy who can move veteran safeties so he’s licking his chops against rookies.”